Export India Porter | The Kernel Brewery

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Reviews by beerdrifter:

Picked this up at The Kernel Brewery while on vacation in London. Deep dark brown, nearly black pour with a creamy caramel-colored two finger head with great retention and lacing. The nose is really roasty with hints of dark chocolate, fresh coffee, cocoa, smoke, and some surprising hoppiness. The taste is bold and roasty with lots of cocoa, toffee, and dark chocolate along with hints of licorice, black coffee, burnt toast, molasses, and some great piney hops. The mouthfeel is smooth and creamy, thick and chewy, with a dry bitter hop finish. Overall, this reminds me more of a Black IPA than a Porter because of the distinct hop presence. However it's classified, it's another stellar beer from The Kernel.

Export India Porter Columbus - not sure if this is the same beer but here goes. A 500ml bottle with a BB of Dec 2012 (bottled April 2012). Picked up from Trembling Madness in York quite a while back.

Note: this was ridiculously overcarbonated. I lost about a third of it down the drain - it just kept on coming. Like puncturing a spray-can or something. As it wasn't cheap, I can't say I'm impressed....

Poured into a Duvel tulip (what was left anyway). Bottle conditioned. A very dark brown that appears black in the glass. A ton of chunky sediment floating around, though it settles out after a while. Produces a vast head of creamy beige foam with a fine, meringue-like texture. It looks pretty good - the head eventually reduces to a surface layer. Aroma of rich roasted malt with notes of burnt grain, coffee, cocoa, molasses, dried fruit, pine, stewed hops and yeast. Mildly funky. A warming whiff of booze in the background.

Tastes of intensely dark malt with a roasty, hoppy character and a strident bitter finish. Notes of burnt grain, coffee, cocoa, molasses, liquorice, dried fruit, mild pine resin, stewed hops and earthy yeast. There is a faint but distinct blue-cheese funkiness in the background - possibly due to all the sediment that ended up in the glass. A notable bitterness upon swallowing, along with a hint of alcohol. Mouthfeel is smooth, thick and pleasingly tingly, though flatter than might be expected. Perhaps all the CO2 took off at the beginning. Slightly spicy on the tongue. Good body for the style. One or two odd hard chunks - yeast? Rather astringent, with an aftertaste of roasted malt, pine and funky yeast.

An interesting style with a big flavour. Tons of dark malt aroma and flavour, though the hops aren't quite so forthcoming. Mostly pine notes but even these seem muted - I expected the hops to be more dominant. Perhaps the roasted malt conquers all. Marked down overall due to flawed execution - this was seriously overcarbed and contained a lorry-load of yeast sediment (which could have been avoided). As I reach the bottom of the glass it's becoming clear that the yeast is adding some undesireable mould/funk character to the flavour. Still, problems aside this is a quality brew that is well worth sampling. Calling all dark beer fans....

Poured from a bottle in Feb '12 (BB Jan '13) into a tulip style glass.

Pours an extreme dark brown verging on black with a creamy beige head soon subsiding to frothy bubbles around the rim of the glass and a small puddle in the centre.

Aroma is high on roasted malts with a little burnt sugar, hints of toffee, a modicum of licqourice and a faint whiff of coffee.

The malts come through in the taste, with a toffee/caramel background and a little pepper in the aftertaste!

On the mouth this beer is medium in body with a dryish finish and a little watery.

Overall a decent porter from the Kernel but in all honesty I enjoyed the others I've tried more.

One post tasting note worthy of consideration, I took this beer from my outhouse (where I store a lot of my beers) which is a brickbuilt building in the garden. It was a cold day here in the UK with temperatures hovering around freezing. When I poured the 2nd half of the bottle into the glass the flvaour was more abundant and pronounced.

Let this beer warm to room temperature to enjoy it at it's best, don't take it straight from the fridge (something I'd never consider but today the outhouse was fridge like)!

Dark brown with a thick foamy tan head that quickly recedes leaving light streaks of lacing on the glass. Smell is chocolate, nutmeg and light citrus. Taste is mildly bitter chocolate, with some bready notes. Finish is bitter with a coffee aftertaste. Feel is light, creamy and smooth with light carbonation. Overall, this is quite pleasant and well-balanced. Good roasted malt flavor with some nice bitterness from the hops.

Poured from bottle into tulip at Cask pub London. Pours a thick oily deep brown with little tan head. Great roasted coffee and malt aromas with a hint of hops. Taste is of slightly bitter roasted coffee malts, a bit of hops, and some chocolate. The hop balance is really nice with this.
This is a superb brew, I'm just upset that I didn't have more from this brewery while in the UK.

This one drunk soon after the pudding on Christmas Day .
ABV= 5.8%
Very dark brown including the lasting frothy head.
A rich, slight smoked fruitiness to the aroma and then hops.
Full flavour. Lots of chocolate then a hit of bitterness at the end.
Medium body.
Merry Christmas.